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UBS in Society

Why we get involved

Driving change in the world needs leadership. As one of the world's largest wealth managers, we have a responsibility to take a leading role in shaping a positive future – for all of us and the generations to come.

We're developing new financial products that have positive impact on the environment and society. With partners and clients we're constantly innovating in the field of philanthropy. And we're continuously establishing new standards of doing business sustainably.

Myths and facts

Our climate strategy

Myth 1

UBS doesn’t care about the climate – the only thing it cares about is profit.

Fact

An intact climate is in all of our interest. We care about the negative consequences of climate change, which is why we have a climate strategy that applies across the entire bank. We’re also convinced that responsibly managing environment-related topics is directly connected to economic growth and the growth of our bank.

Myth 2

UBS isn’t interested in climate change, and especially not where investments are concerned.

Fact

Wrong. We sold climate-related, sustainable investments worth USD 108 billion to clients last year. We know that climate change harbors risks for our clients. We’re outlining these risks and helping our clients to handle them in a responsible way. A notable example is our Climate Aware Fund. The portfolio is oriented toward companies that are better prepared for a low-carbon future.

Myth 3

UBS isn’t interested in efforts to transition to a low-carbon world. It actually benefits from doing business with climate offenders.

Fact

We have comprehensive standards for environmental and social risks that govern our relationships with our clients and suppliers, including clear criteria on what types of transactions we won’t finance. In 2018, we decided that we will no longer finance new coal-fired power plants, and we further tightened our fossil fuel standards in 2019. We’ve drastically scaled back financing companies that have a negative impact on the climate – down 41% in 2019. And we continue to shift toward sustainability in all of our decisions. Last year, we financed companies developing renewable energies with over USD 87 billion.

Myth 4

UBS doesn’t feel compelled to take a leading role in greater climate protection.

Fact

On the contrary. We’re well aware of our responsibilities and want to take a leading role in climate protection. We aim to be a leader in sustainable finance, expanding our range of products and raising awareness among clients and investors. And at our own doorstep, we’ve nearly halved the number of kilometers flown worldwide from one billion in 2007 to 459 million in 2019, for example, and offset 100% of flight emissions in the last 13 years. We’ve also committed to covering 100% of our energy needs from renewable sources by mid-2020.

Myth 5

UBS refuses to divest from climate-damaging companies.

Fact

We’ve learned that we often get much further when we work together with companies to engage in more sustainable strategies than just pulling out altogether. For instance, our Climate Aware fund reduces its exposure to rather than excludes companies with higher carbon risk. This allows us and our clients to have a dialogue with these companies in order to encourage their transition to a low-carbon economy. Asset Management has started an engagement program with 50 oil & gas and utilities companies underweighted in the fund.

What we have achieved

3.3 million

38%

100%

Our goal for share of electricity from renewable sources for 2020. Currently we're at 72%.1

488 billion USD

Core sustainable investments under management (+56%) in 20191

#TOGETHERBAND

We're proud to have joined forces with sustainable accessories brand BOTTLETOP to raise public awareness and action for all 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 100% of profits go to life-changing projects working towards the goals.

Timeline of sustainability

At UBS our commitment to sustainability started years ago. In the 1950s. Browse these milestones to discover how we built up our engagement to a better world – through financial products, philanthropy, and our own business practice.

Travelling through time

1954

Beginnings of UBS Community Affairs at Wealth Management US

1997

First Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds2

1999

First bank to obtain ISO 14001 certification for worldwide environmental management system

2006

Introduction of comprehensive climate strategy and start offsetting all CO2 emissions resulting from business air travel. More

2014

Founding UBS in society, a program to further focus us on sustainable performance

How we support the SDGs

Explore the real life stories of how we contributed to the 2030 UN Goals. Simply use the filter options below.

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SDG 1 No Poverty

SDG 2 Zero hunger

SDG 3 Good health and well-being

SDG 4 Quality education

SDG 5 Gender equality

SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation

SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy

SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth

SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure

SDG 10 Reduced inequalities

SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities

SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production

SDG 13 Climate action

SDG 14 Life below water

SDG 15 Life on land

SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions

SDG 17 Partnership for the goals

Read our reports

Our reports, standards and commitments are available for all to see. We believe it's important to be upfront and honest. And while we're proud of how far we've come, we also know there's still a lot more for us to do.

UBS Global Visionaries

2 Sustainable investing strategies aim to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into investment process and portfolio construction. Strategies across geographies and styles approach ESG analysis and incorporate the findings in a variety of ways. The returns on portfolios consisting primarily of sustainable investments may be lower or higher than portfolios where ESG factors, exclusions, or other sustainability issues are not considered, and the investment opportunities available to such portfolios may also differ.

3 Ranking determined by Dow Jones/RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment. UBS did not pay a fee in exchange for this ranking.

4 Development Impact Bonds are not financial products

Disclaimer: No affiliation, association, sponsorship or endorsement is suggested or implied by UBS to any person, entity, company or organization mentioned in this material.

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